Walking into an art gallery for the first time could certainly be an awkward experience. Entering the Elliot Smith Contemporary Art gallery in the Central West End, however, will surprise you.

A chocolate Labrador, or mix of some sort lounged on one of the three steps leading to the opening exhibits. Whether he was invited or just a regular art-goer remains in question.

After bypassing the canine welcome, an amazing trio of portraits came into view. For the equine enthusiast, it was quite a mesmerizing site.

Three separate majestic horses beckoned careful inspection from the viewer. Anyone from an experienced artist to someone casually viewing these pieces would appreciate how defined and perfect these three paintings were. They had so much accuracy and detail to them that they could have been mistaken for black and white photographs.

Clearly any experienced artist would be amazed at the patience it obviously took to create these pieces.

Nevertheless, a second and third collection of paintings inspired the opening of the exhibit. On Friday night, artists Ken Worley and Colleen Randay displayed their works.

A popular St. Louis artist, Worley revisited a favorite subject inspired by the forests and plains of the Rockwoods reservation located here in Missouri.

He chose oil sticks on canvas for his medium. They worked well with his subject, however to the untrained eye they looked much like regular Crayola crayons.

When looking at the works from a distance, it seems as though the artist drew the scenery like a child. For example, if a child were to try and draw a tree, the trunk would basically look like two close-running parallel lines filled in with brown crayon.

But, representing the numerous leaves and branches in a tree would certainly be the most challenging aspect of the drawing.

To finish off the tree, a child would most likely draw some sort of oval or circle above the trunk and color-in the remaining space with green.

Much like this illustration, Worley’s depiction of his redwoods would closely resemble something quite similar. The technique he used was definitely intriguing.

When looking closer, one sees each stroke was not merely scribbled on the canvas, rather each squiggle (representing the leaves without actually drawing them) was purposely drawn and planned.

Each piece of art echoes the other. Some paintings are even the same view in a different season or time of day.

Though his work looked as if it was an easy and quick rendition of nature, in reality it probably took an extremely long amount of time and great talent to complete the redwood scenes with hundreds of intricate strokes.

Moving on, the third room was filled with something quite unparalleled and completely abstract. Colleen Randall’s new paintings are said to combine color-field and gestural techniques.

Her works use texture, color, warm and cool colors. Remarkably, at times she throws sawdust and marble dust to create her desired effect. For one who does not necessarily appreciate bold abstract work, these works probably look like someone went crazy and simply dumped mounds of paint on a rough, rigid surface.

Overall, the exhibit was enjoyable and certainly an extraordinary experience.

It allowed the experienced artist to view different styles of art not normally displayed in any generic, casual setting.

Any adventurer looking for something different to do in the city should definitely come out feeling cultured and perhaps find a new interest in abstract or impressionistic art.

I highly recommend visiting this exhibit if you’re looking for something unique.